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Thursday, July 13, 2006

Doyle Woody at the Anchorage Daily News has compiled a general update of the comings and goings at UAA over the last month or so. Most of what is in the article has been stated here but the advantages of being a full-time professional journalist versus this part-time blog hack are clear when you read his article. As a hack I'm certainly not going to track down Eric Walsky to get an interview. Doyle also has thousands of readers. I have substantially fewer (of course all of my 51 readers are way cooler than his thousands). In any case, once in a while I hear negative comments from some UAA fans about Doyle. I understand their perception. Sometimes there's not much in the ADN about UAA hockey: that'd be because sometimes (a few long ugly seasons) there isn't much to write about. Some people tell me they don't think Doyle is a UAA Hockey fan. I can't see that he is anything but a UAA fan. As much as anyone else in this city I'm sure Doyle will be thrilled when UAA starts having consistent success in the WCHA. He grew up here. He's seen more UAA hockey games than anyone in town. How could he not be a fan? And hey ... the guy is a journalist. He has to maintain a separation from the program in order to maintain his credibility. Besides there are plenty of other "bag man" journalists in other WCHA cities trying to latch onto their Hockey program's teat and I'd prefer to not witness that in this city. So three cheers for Doyle Woody. That said, the only point of comparison in which I give myself an advantage is exactly the reason I started this blog. I just get to spout off. Which begins in .... 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, ...

There's no big surprises in the article. Walsky is gone. Felde ain't coming. There'll be an announcement from the school about Campbell Blair's hiring later this month. I'm glad with all the speculation around here that Eric got his say about his reasons and how he feels about the situation. Clearly he is primarily concerned about his career. Clearly Dave Shyiak is primarily concerned about his team. I'd say to Eric (as I think I've said here ...) that team championships don't get you a professional contract. Example: Curtis Glencross left UAA after his sophmore season because his numbers got him an offer (no team championships involved). I personally believe Eric is one of the most talented players in the WCHA and EVERY player in the WCHA that deserves consideration from scouts gets it no matter which team they play for. There are more than a couple of fans that think he was a puckhog too though but I graciously disagree. I'd also say (and I'm sure he knows this) that if Anchorage's most talented youth players stayed at home, then UAA would be dramatically more competitive in this league. I'm looking forward to a day when a couple of Anchorage studs lead UAA to a championship. It'll happen someday, I swear.

Now to the important bit. The article says:

Despite those personnel losses, Shyiak said he is looking forward to his second season behind the Seawolves' bench. He has recruited four forwards, three defensemen and one goaltender for 2006-07.

"I'm excited about the guys we have coming in here,'' Shyiak said.

Could he have said anything more appropriate? I don't think so. His attention is no doubt focused on the future and the guys that are coming to UAA are that future. The guys that aren't coming or the guy(s) that are leaving aren't a factor. Good on ya Coach.

10 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Why would Anchorages young talent want to play for Anchorage when there own home town reporter does not act the slightest bit optimistic about incoming players and the direction of the program. Imagine you are a young player and have all the hopes and dreams of making it big, and then one day you start reading the paper… You are then bombarded with the weekly gloom and doom painting that Woody paints for us about OUR team. So when it is your time to make a choice on a school, why would you come to one that has had such negativity attributed to it instead of hope. There is a way to be a journalist, say it how it is, and then give your audience a pleasant glimpse of things to come. Woody hurts us when it comes to home town recruiting. For instance we had two home town rookies (B.Smith and S. Lovdahl and in the past many others, Green and Shasby coming to mind) who chose to come here and did well in WCHA rookie points and playing time, and it is my opinion that they would have done even better if supported for there individual efforts in spite of team losses. Even some of the players need to be pump up by the paper to play better. For example: UAA lost forty four to nothing, but Mark Smiths leadership on the point was great to see. Loosing is a habit, and being told your useless makes you start to believe it, so why not let the players know what looked good out there while you report a loss. Woody is the number one problem with UAA home town recruiting, and if you can’t see it just imagine you are a great young skater looking for a program to play in. Honestly where would you go after reading his impartial journalism for most of your life.From a Fan

Interesting comment. The last time i checked the ADN and the reporters are not cheerleaders. Start getting things together and Doyle Woody will write the results. Also heard Billy Smith is transferring out.

Far as Doylie Doyle goes. I actually like the guy. He definitely takes flak from fans from time-to-time in the ADN sports mailbag, but you're right DTP, he is a serious fan.

I've talked to him a various Seawolves functions, and he couldn't be a nicer guy. I think he kind of thrives off the nastygrams he gets when he's been critical. Let's him know people are reading him! ;-)

Unfortunately the ADN thrives on negativity. UAA has spoken to them about their negative coverage, to no avail. Woody asked me if I were to write a story about a car crash where one person died and one person lived, who would I concentrate on? The dead person, he said. You see, that's where we differ, I would be sad about the death, but would rejoice in the one who lived, and that would be my focus. Something positive in a tragic situation, but that's not how they operate.

The owners of the ADN have other papers, which are also very negative. They actually think that negativity sells.

Doyle Woody is a bum, gives a half-assed effort on most of his UAA articles. His best effort is given when he writes about other teams and their great players. It's time he moves on and takes his opponent ass-kissing stories with him.